The Minab market is a unique mix – even to my well-traveled eyes.
It’s the way women dress: colorful hijab scarves or black chador cloaks, yet more intriguing are their bird-like masks.
VIDEO: Masked women of Minab market
These masks originate from Arabia.
It’s said Arabian women adopted them to thwart the advances of Portuguese slave traders some centuries ago.
And it’s this attire – along with the different ethnic faces, which reveals something of Minab’s history; once a trade hub on a route linking Iran (Persia) with Arabia, Pakistan, and Africa.
They hold the weekly market in Minab every Thursday
The “Panjshambe Bazaar” attracts people from all over the Hormozgan region of southern Iran.
Languages spoken include a Minabi dialect of Farsi, alongside Arabic and Urdu.
The women of Minab market are the attraction
Photographing people in conservative Islamic societies is often difficult. (Likewise, tribal Africa and indigenous Andean cultures).
Many remain wary of cameras at the market.
So be discreet from a distance or ask people if they are the direct subject / focus of your photo.
And being a foreign male in an Islamic country (and without a local fixer) means the best photos are never taken.
I shoot discreetly in public places but ask permission for conventional portraits.
When asked by local folks why I photograph, I answer. I am not a professional. I won’t sell your image.
The aim of my photos – hobby aside – is to take pictures to counter my fading memories. And also to share my travels with other people. That’s you, readers.
Travels in Iran – 2011